Game of The Dead
by kerbubbles
Summary: Ian, a 17 year old from district 11, is reaped along with his friend Melanie to play in the Hunger Games. While in the training area of the capitol building, a boy from district 12 catches his eye. They form an alliance and once in the games, they realize they have been dumped into an abandoned hospital where the dead roam around, feeding on the living. Ian/Anthony
1. Chapter 1

_ Ian ran down the hallway, breathing erratically. He snapped his head to the left and then the right, trying to ignore the moaning and thumps of the cannibalistic creatures chasing him. He kept running, ignoring the massive pain in his side and thighs. He kept darting his eyes around, looking desperately for an exit. He hopped over a dead body, gagging at the sight of its organs spilled out next to it. _

_ He squeaked when he slipped on a pool of blood, crashing to the ground, face first. He flipped himself around and scuttled backwards, stumbling to his feet. He hissed in pain as he stood, realizing he had sprained his ankle when he fell. He tried to limp away from the horrid creatures from the foolish elder tales, but it was too late for him. He had signed his own death certificate when he sprained his ankle._

_ The flesh eating monsters were upon him soon, knocking him to the ground. Ian made a half-hearted attempt to get away, but soon accepted his fate as he realized there was no way out. He cried out as a creature dug its teeth into his ankle, and soon many of the disgusting creatures were upon him like vultures, tearing Ian's flesh from his bones._

Ian woke up with a start, covered in sweat. He shot up out of bed, breathing heavily, his blankets in a heap on the side of the bed where he had thrown them off in the middle of the night. He sighed and rested his head back against the pillow, breathing deeply to calm the irregular beating of his heart. This was the third night in a row he'd had the same nightmare about the bloody, flesh eating creatures from the elder's tales. He planned on giving them hell the next time he went in the village to sell his latest illegally-caught game.

He sighed, rolling over on his stomach, trying to go back to sleep. He tried to clear his mind of all the horror tales the elders seemed to enjoy using as an attempt to spook the seemingly impossible to scare male. He would never admit to them that their latest tale of cannibalistic living dead had finally succeeded in scaring the living daylights out of him. He sighed, eyelids drooping ever so slightly. He cleared his mind easily due to the ever calming effects of sleeping on his stomach and gave into sleep, snoring softly as he finally slept nightmare-free.

Ian woke up the next morning, groaning as he remembered it was reaping day. He swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood up, stretching his limbs, which were stiff from sleeping. He sighed, eyeing the stupid outfit that had been set out by his father for the reaping. He hated this time of year. He thought the Hunger Games was the most ludicrous idea in the world. What was exciting about people who were your closest friends and family fight to the death until only one remains? Personally, Ian thought it was a cruel and deficient punishment for something their ancestors had did eons ago.

He sighed, going into the main room to see his father sitting at the table. He greeted his dad half-heartedly, sitting at the ancient wooden dining table. He glanced at the poor breakfast in front of him – 2 pieces of bread and some left-over meat from his latest kill. He sighed and started eating.

His dad looked up "Ready for reaping day?"

Ian grunted in response, giving his dad a serious look. "What do you think?"

Matt sighed, shaking his head. "At least it's your last year to be entered. If you don't get called, you don't have to worry about it anymore. Hell, you might even get away with not watching it on TV. You just zone out every time I put it on anyway."

"That's because it's absolutely frivolous to watch twenty-four people kill each other until one is left, especially since most of the time my friend's names are drawn and they just end up fucking dying. " Ian spat bitterly "I'm just lucky Melanie's name hasn't been called. Actually, she's got an insane amount of luck, considering the large amount of times her name is in so she can get tesserae for her family."

Matt sighed "You better be careful where you say that kind of stuff. That talk could get you snatched up by peacekeepers real quick."

"Yeah, so can half of the other shit I do. Do you have a point?" Matt sighed and shook his head. "Good. I'm leaving; I'll be back before the reaping."

"Where are you going?"

"Where the hell do you think?"

"Be careful"

"If I wasn't I would've been caught already." Ian slipped on his hunting boots and grabbed his bow and throwing knives, heading out the door. He looked around for peacekeepers. When he decided it was safe he slipped through a hole in the fence right behind his house and darted into the forest.

He slipped between the trees, checking the traps he and Melanie had set up. He quickly cleared the rabbits from the traps and dressed them, hiding them so he could pick them up later when he had brought his game bag. He looked up and spotted a dear. He got up soundlessly, pulling his bow string back, about to shoot when a voice startled him.

"And how the hell are you going to get that thing back home if you have nothing to carry it in?"

Ian cursed when the deer heard Melanie's voice and darted away. "God dammit, Mel" Ian cursed, turning around.

Melanie smiled at him "What? You had no way of taking it home, why be mad that I scared it away?"

Ian shook his head knowingly "I could have hid it." He said, despite the fact that he already knew it was impossible to hide an entire deer.

Melanie snorted "Yeah, like that's possible."

Ian chuckled and walked with Melanie, finding a hidden place by some blackberry bushes. Melanie settled down next to him and took something out of her pack. "Look what I brought." She grinned.

Ian looked over, gasping at the frosted pastries she was holding, the tiny wisps of steam that rose off of them indicating they were fresh. "How the hell did you get a hold of these?!" He asked, taking one and shoving half of it greedily into his mouth, breaking the large piece off.

Melanie chuckled "I traded the baker two squirrels and a quart of strawberries. It was a lot, I know, but it was worth it" Ian hummed in agreement and devoured the rest of his pastry.

Melanie finished off hers as well and for a good half hour, the two sat there, chatting and staring off into the distance, eating a few of the blackberries from the bush beside them.

"We could do it, you know" Melanie said, staring off into the distance.

"Do what?" Ian asked, confused.

"Run away. You know, it's a lot better in the capitol. Better food, better housing, nicer living conditions. We wouldn't have to hunt and trade for almost the entirety of our meals. Everything would be made for us. We could do it."

Ian sighed, confused as to why Melanie abruptly brought this up. There was no romantic connection with the two, Melanie knew Ian was gay, so what was her reasoning for suggesting that the two friends run away together? "No, we couldn't. I could, but you have your family to take care of. Your mom wouldn't be able to support your brothers without your regular game."

Melanie huffed "I could bring them with me."

Ian looked at her incredously "Are you kidding me? They would just slow us down and make it almost a guarantee that we would be caught! And then where would we all be? Either dead or without our tongues, waiting on the future tributes."

Melanie sighed frustratedly. "Fine. It was just a thought."

Ian sighed. Melanie was so easy to upset. Fucking women. "Look, I'm sorry. I'm just saying it's not possible for us at the moment. Your family wouldn't be able to support themselves without you."

Melanie sighed and her smile was upon her face again. "You're right. What a silly idea" She nudged Ian, chuckling.

Ian nodded, chuckling "Absolutely idiotic."

Ian quickly got dressed in his outfit the reaping, sighing. He walked out of his room when he was ready, signaling to his dad that it would be a good idea to get a move on so they wouldn't be late.

Ian went up to the check-in table, letting the lady do what she needed to and then went to the area for seventeen year olds. He waited there, greeting some of his friends and waiting for the stupid reaping to start so he could get it over with and go home.

Not soon after he started chatting with one of his buddies did Ian hear the shrill voice of Emily Trinket, the sister of the old announcer that passed a few years ago, asking for everyone's attention. He scoffed at her bright and flashy capital outfit, rolling his eyes at that combined with her silly capital accent. He smiled slightly, remembering all the time he and Melanie spent making fun of the asinine capital people.

Ian listened with little interest as Emily went through all the steps of the reaping. Once the video they played every single year ended, she made her way over to the boy's ball. "Let's start with the boy tribute from District 11!" Ian listened with little interest.

Emily moved her hand around the bowl before drawing out a name from the bowl. She unfolded the paper, reading it out loud. "Ian Hecox" She announced loudly.

Ian snapped his head up when he heard his name, eyes widening. He let the peacekeepers guide him to the stage, showing no emotion. He sorted out what this meant in his mind and he relaxed slightly. In a way, he was happy his name was called. Maybe now he'd die and finally get out of this miserable place.

He stepped on the stage and only half-listened as Emily congratulated him. He turned his full attention to her as she reached into the ball, praying to whatever non-existent god was listening that Melanie would be safe.

"And the girl tribute is….Melanie Moat!"

Ian sighed defeatedly, trying to look on the bright side. At least he'd have a good partner in the games. He stood through the rest of the ceremony and shook Melanie's hand when instructed to, sighing when he was finally escorted to the room where he would say all his goodbyes.

After some emotional goodbyes with some of his friends and an awkward goodbye to his father, Ian was escorted to the train, where he met back up with Melanie. The two friends looked around, taking in the sight. It was the nicest place they'd been in, but the two were unaffected. They weren't the kind to go crazy over these kinds of things. They were used to the cruel life of living in one of the lower districts, yes, but they were quite content with that life most of the time and didn't fantasize about better districts, unlike mostly everyone else.

He sat next to Melanie on a couch, sighing. "Some place, huh?"

Melanie nodded "Seems kind of bizarre when you compare it to what we're used to"

Ian nodded "Feels like a dream."

Melanie nodded. The two stayed silent, not sure of what else to say, and looked up when someone entered the car. Ian sighed, seeing that it was Emily. "Do you two like the place?"

The two moved their hands in a so-so motion "Never really fantasized about this" Ian added in.

Emily looked at the two as if they were from another planet, but quickly replaced it with a smile. "Well, you can't please everyone. Ras, your mentor, should be out soon. In the meantime, just sit tight."

Ian nodded and watched Emily leave. He sighed, leaning into the couch. Not long after Emily left, Ras entered the room. Ian looked up, leaning forward when he saw it was an unfamiliar man, and judging by the fact he wasn't wearing an Avox uniform, he was most likely their mentor.

The man shook both of their hands "I'm Ras, your mentor for the games."

Ian nodded "I'm Ian."

"Melanie"

Ras nodded "How old are you two?"

"Both seventeen"

Ras nodded "You both look pretty strong"

Ian nodded, not sure if he should mention that they hunt illegally. He quickly found out he didn't have to, because Melanie soon piped up about it. Her eyes widened when she said and looked to Ian, a look of slight look of panic in her eyes.

Ras chuckled lightly "Don't worry, anything said between us three will stay between us. You can consider me a friend, I suppose. I will be helping you out in the games, so I wouldn't be letting anything slip that could possibly get you in huge trouble, or possibly killed."

Ian nodded, and Melanie visibly relaxed. Ian gave her a reassuring smile, and Melanie smiled back. "So" Ras said "I take it you two are best friends?" the two nodded and Ras smiled "You guys are lucky in a way, I guess. That's an easy alliance. It's better to stick together in the games, that way you can help keep each other alive."

"That seems obvious" Ian said.

Ras nodded "What's your weapon of choice?"

"Bow and arrow and throwing knives" Ian answered

"Just bow and arrow"

Ras smiled "Good. Those are the two main weapons the gamemakers usually put out for the tributes." Ian and Melanie grinned, thinking the games might be easy.

Ras saw Emily walk in and smiled at the two "We can talk more at training. You're training together, I assume?" The two nodded and Ras smiled "Great. Now, let's eat. Are you two hungry?" The two nodded vigorously and everyone sat down at the table.

The four shared a meal, Ian and Melanie somehow controlling themselves to not devour all the delicious food set out in front of them after not having a meal quite so large in feeling in…well, the entirety of their lives. The group chatted about various things, all of it revolving around anything to do with the games, and when they were all done, they all declared they needed sleep and headed off to bed. The first day of the next long period of time on the train and capital building was over, with many more to follow.

A/N Holy fucking shit that was long. Okay, so, this is my new series! It's a Hunger Games AU, obviously, and it will have zombies! Yay, three of my favorite things! Anyway, if I finish the chapters in time each week, this may be updated regularly on the weekends. But you know me, so don't count on it XD I'm such a horrible updater. Anyway, hope you enjoyed! Love you all

3


	2. Chapter 2

Ian grimaced at the outfit his stylist had dressed him in. Since he lived in district 11, the agriculture district, the stylist decided to he wanted to use the farmer part of his and Melanie's district. He had the two dressed as "sexy farmers", as the stylist had put it. He was dressed in denim jeans that were way too tight ("To show off that nice ass of yours!"), a belt with a large buckle, and suspenders. He had no shirt on and he felt _very_ awkward. He didn't want to be parading around in a chariot shirtless! When he had tried to protest, the stylist just said it was to show off how hot he was. Despite being gay, the comment still made Ian uneasy. Was this guy a fucking pedophile?

He decided to distract himself from the fact that he was pretty damn sure his creepy as fuck stylist was staring at his ass as he surveyed how he looked in the outfit and wondered how Melanie was doing. Considering the fact that she was a girl, her outfit was probably way worse. Ian wouldn't be surprised if she ended up in only a bra and panties made to look like denim.

Ian sighs when he hears his stylist tell him it's time for the Opening Ceremony. He reluctantly heads to the door, dragging his bare feet. The stylist pushes him softly to get him to go faster and Ian gladly obliges to keep the damn creep from touching him. He enters the room with the chariots and quickly spots Melanie. He can't help but laugh at her outfit because she just looks completely _ridiculous_ compared to how he normally sees her.

Melanie is wearing a bra with fabric that looks like denim but isn't, incredibly short shorts that barely cover her ass and flip-flops. She looks extremely uncomfortable with the fact that ninety percent of her body is exposed, which only results in Ian laughing even harder than he was before.

Ian stepped into the chariot, still laughing, earning a slap to the back of the head from Melanie. He hissed and rubbed his head "What the hell, Mel?"

She glared at him "It's not funny!"

Ian looks at her and a giggle escapes his mouth "You look _ridiculous!_" He had failed to notice her hair while he was walking to the chariot, but now he saw it was falling down her back and over her shoulders and it was shiny and wavy, a huge change over the usual messy ponytail, which only changed Ian's giggles to full blown laughter once again. Melanie just huffed and rolled her eyes, shaking her head disdainfully.

When Ian had finally gotten control of his laughter, he wiped the tears from his eyes that had formed from him laughing so hard and stood up straight, turning to Melanie, somehow managing not to burst into a fit of giggles once again. "Trust me; I'm not too thrilled with my outfit."

"At least yours covers more than half of you."  
"Nonetheless, I'm not very comfortable with millions of people staring at my chest and stomach."

Melanie shrugged "Still better than having only ten percent of your fucking body covered"

"True"

The two closed their mouths when they saw the District one chariot exit the chariot room. They watched as the chariots left, one by one, until it was their turn. Ian rested a hand on top of the chariot as it started moving to keep his balance and used his other to wave to the crowd as they emerged into the City Square where they were being paraded like petty parade floats.

At first, the crowd fell silent when the District 11 chariot emerged, causing Ian to begin to panic. _Oh god, we look horrible. We look so horrible they can't even boo. Oh god, we're not gonna get any sponsors! We're gonna die. We're fucking dead!_ Suddenly, the crowd erupted into cheers and whistles. Ian's lips stretched into a huge smile, despite the fact that he felt over-exposed and that this crowd was obviously full of fucking perverts and he waved at the crowd, catching a glimpse of himself in one of the large TVs they had in the town square. But he was soon distracted when he saw the District 12 chariot on the TV, or rather; he was distracted by the boy in the chariot.

The boy had jet-black hair that framed his face perfectly, his bangs partially covering his right eye. His eyes were a dull brown, but Ian noticed they were being illuminated from the fire that seemed to be coming from his pants. Ian would have normally thought that jeans on fire would've been really weird, but he was more distracted by the fact that this boy was not wearing a shirt, and he was _extremely_ attractive without a shirt on. His skin tone was a perfect tan shade and Ian couldn't help but stare at his completely exposed top half. This boy was just so unbelievably attractive; he looked like a one of those male models the capitol used for their stupid commercials.

Ian was pulled from his thoughts when he realized the chariot was back in the room they had started in. He looked over to see Melanie grinning at him "You seemed to take a liking to that District 12 boy." She teased.

Ian blushed darkly "I-I did not!"

Melanie giggled "Please, you were practically drooling over him!"

Ian blushed darkly and flipped Melanie off, grumbling to himself. He saw Ras heading toward him and smiled at the thoroughly delighted look on Ras' face. "You guys looked wonderful!" he cried. Ian barely heard him though, as he'd spotted the district 12 boy in the distance behind Ras. He was chatting with a girl, whom Ian vaguely recognized as the girl from his district, but Ian wasn't really paying attention to that. His eyes were once again staring at his perfect chest and stomach. He started to drift off into a daydream where he was kissing down the beautiful boy's body. Just as his lips had reached the area of the boy's stomach right above his dick, he was startled from his thoughts when he heard Melanie and Ras laughing loudly. "What, what is it? What's so funny?"

Ras grinned "I see you've got your eyes on someone"

Ian blushed and groaned "Oh god, not you too!"

Ras chuckled "I couldn't help it, especially when you consider the fact that your jeans don't hide the fact that you have 6 inches of _boner _growing in your jeans" this sent Melanie and Ras into another fit of laughter and Ian's face to flush a dark shade of red.

Ian didn't even notice at first, but now that they mentioned it, Ian realized that he indeed had a boner. It was pressing painfully against the already uncomfortable jeans. Ian blushed darkly and flipped Ras and Melanie off, heading for the elevator. They followed him, still laughing loudly, and the three rode up to the eleventh floor. Ian rushed off to his room once the elevator door opened, slamming the door and slumping against it, his face flushed from embarrassment.

Ian was suddenly reminded of the fact that the stupid jeans were painfully pressing against his erection and he groaned. He had three choices – Jack off, take a cold shower, or jack off in the shower. He quickly ruled out jacking off, not wanting anyone to walk in on him or to hear him moaning as they passed by his door. He also ruled out jacking off in the shower, as he would be embarrassed if an Avox came in to make the bed, which, for some reason, was still unmade even though it was almost nighttime and heard Ian moaning through the bathroom walls. _Cold shower it is._

When Ian got out of the shower, a towel wrapped around his waist, he saw that the bed was made. _So an Avox did come in here? Good thing I wasn't doing anything besides showering_. He dropped the towel on the floor and dressed in some pajamas he found in the dresser and went to the bathroom, pressing a button on the wall besides the mirror that dried and combed his hair.

He climbed into the bed, sighing contentedly at how soft it was, and snuggled under the sheets. It was a little early, but Ian was extremely tired from the long day of meeting random capitol people and possible sponsors, getting every single tiny hair he had on any area of his body that was not his head ripped off with sticky cloth by strange capitol people, and then completely embarrassing hisself. He smiled as he thought of the District 12 boy, and the last thought that entered his head before he drifted into a much needed sweet and peaceful sleep was _I definitely want him for an ally. _


	3. Chapter 3

Ian's arm fell to his side once his knife hit the bull's-eye of the target in the portion of the training room used for knife throwing. He looked around, noticing some of the tributes staring, impressed at the seven knives Ian had thrown, all of them buried in the small red circle in the middle of the target. Ian panted and rolled his shoulders backwards and forwards to relax them. He cracked his neck and retrieved the knives, stepping back to let Melanie practice.

Ian went to the weapon holder by the knife throwing station to put up his knives. When he reached up to place the last one in its spot, his hand brushed against another tribute's. He yanked his hand away, turning his head to the side to see who the hand belonged to. A light pink tinged his cheeks as his eyes fell upon the district twelve boy. "O-Oh, um, sorry." Ian mumbled.

The boy smiled "Oh no, you're fine."

Ian returned the smile weakly, ignoring the fact that the boy's smile was too perfect to be humanly possible and would put the sun to shame with it's brightness, and reached up once again and slipped the knife into its spot. He turned to the boy, sticking out his hand. "I don't think we've been properly introduced. I'm Ian."

The boy grabbed Ian's hand and shook it "I'm Anthony."

Ian reluctantly released Anthony's hand "Nice to meet you, Anthony."

"Nice to meet you too, Ian. You're really good at throwing knives. Have you had any practice?"

Ian thought for a moment, planning out his next words carefully. Did he want to reveal his secret hunting life to this boy? He could easily be overheard by one of the adults in the training center, and then he'd end up either without a head or without a tongue. He shrugged "Guess I'm just a natural"

Anthony raised an eyebrow "Wow. So you've never used a throwing knife before?" His tone suggested he didn't quite believe Ian.

Ian shook his head, trying to ignore how the disbelieving the boy sounded. "Don't really have much use for them in the District eleven."

"I don't think there's much use for them in any district besides the Career Districts."

"Yeah, that's true"

"Are you good at anything besides throwing knives?"

"I'm pretty good with a bow and arrow" Ian immediately regretted the words, expecting Anthony to ask how he knew he was good.

However, the boy didn't seem to find the words suspicious in the least, or if he did, he chose not to point it out. "Really?" Anthony turned to look at the training station used for shooting arrows, finding it empty. "Wanna show me?"

Ian raised an eyebrow "You want to see me practice?"

Anthony nodded "I want to see if you'd be a worthy ally"

Ian fought the grin that tried to creep up on his face. The boy was considering him as an ally. He fought against the giddy feeling that spread through him. "Prepare to be impressed" He sauntered over to the station in a somewhat cocky manner and retrieved a bow from the weapon holder as well as a quiver. "Wow, these things are fucking nice" He muttered as he admired the silver weapon, his eyes wide in awe.

"Are you gonna show me something or are you gonna flirt with inanimate objects?"

Ian's face flushed and he cleared his throat. "Sorry, these things are just really nice." Without another word he slung the quiver across his back and held the bow in his hands. He stepped to the shooting range and loaded the bow, pulling the string back and aiming for the head of the first target. He let go and watched the arrow fly, the tip burying itself into the middle of the painted target. He continued to shoot multiple targets until the quiver was empty.

"Wow" He heard Anthony's voice behind him. He turned around, grinning when he saw the boy staring behind him at the targets, a look of pure awe painting his perfect features. Every arrow that had been shot had either buried itself in the middle of the target or really damn close to it. "How are you such an amazing shot?"

Ian shrugged "Like I said, I guess I'm just a natural" He saw disbelieve flash in the boy's eyes, but it soon disappeared and he turned to Ian with a smile.

"You're so lucky. I wish I was as good as that." Ian searched the boy's face for any sign of envy, but all he found was utter awe. He felt a million tiny little butterflies flap their wings in his stomach because this utterly perfect boy was impressed with him when he was far from perfect.

"I could teach you." Ian smiled at the thought of teaching this perfect boy how to shoot. He fought off the thoughts of exactly how he could teach him, a light blush creeping up his cheeks.

Anthony seemed to ponder the idea for a moment before nodding "You could. Wanna be allies?" This time Ian allowed the grin to invade his face and he shook Anthony's now outstretched hand as he nodded. The boy grinned as well "Great"

Ian suddenly remembered something and frowned "Could the girl from my district be included in this?"

Anthony flashed Ian an incredulous look. "Well, of course! Did you really expect me to leave her out?" Ian sighed with relief because yeah, he kind of did. Most people who requested to be allies with kids from other districts decide to leave their partners out. But this guy was different, apparently. Just another reason to add to the list that this boy was perfect.

Ian smiled at him gratefully "Thanks. You should meet her, so she's not a stranger when the games roll around"

"Call her over, then" Ian quickly scanned the training room for his friend, spotting her putting away her throwing knives. He went over to her, explaining their new ally arrangements with Anthony, then motioned for her to follow him so she could meet the boy. She followed him and smiled at Anthony when they reached the boy.

Anthony smiled back and the two shook hands. As they started talking, Ian let out a sigh of relief he didn't know he was holding. He didn't think Anthony would really like Melanie, but the two seemed to get along pretty well. As the two were talking, Ian's eyes aimlessly scanned the room. His eyes made contact with a group of career tributes who were staring at him. From his position, he couldn't tell if they were glaring at him or not. What he could tell, though, was that they definitely didn't like him. The thought left a bitter, almost poisonous taste in his mouth. It was not a good idea to be on the bad side of the career tributes.

Ian felt his heart start to pound as the fear spread through his body like deadly venom, images of different ways the career tributes could murder him. In his mind's eye he saw himself lying in a pool of his own blood; with his head cut off; with multiple arrows lodged in his body, with his head smashed; with his body blown to pieces; with-

"Ian?" he was yanked sharply from his thoughts and his eyes darted to look at his two friends, one new and one old, next to him. "You okay? You look paler than usual."

"Huh? Oh, yeah, I'm fine" A look of concern flashed on both of the teens faces, but Ian just waved them off. "Really, I'm fine. Just got lost in my own thoughts for a few minutes"

"What were you thinking about? You look like you just saw the devil's dick or something"

Ian couldn't help but burst into laughter at the statement. He clutched his stomach as he laughed "Th-The devil's dick?" He continued to laugh for a couple minutes before wiping away tears. He looked up to see a very annoyed Melanie and amused Anthony.

"You never answered my question"

"I don't even remember now" Ian lied. "So, the devil's dick is apparently terrifying?"

"Shut up!" Melanie muttered, glaring at Ian. Ian heard Anthony chuckled beside him and he couldn't stop the small smile that stretched his lips. Even his tiny chuckle was fucking adorable.

Melanie seemed to notice the smile and she raised an eyebrow at Ian, smirking. Her eyes darted between the two boys, making kissy faces. Ian glared at her and slapped her on the shoulder, earning a scoff and feigned look of offence from Melanie. He looked up to see if Anthony had noticed the exchange, but he seemed to be staring at something somewhere in the training room. Ian and Melanie followed his gaze to the same group of career tributes Ian had caught staring at him.

"I think they're glaring at us" Anthony said, his tone full of worry.

"Shit" Melanie muttered under her breath "That's not a good sign"

"They're probably just mad because we have more skills than they do." Ian knew he shouldn't be joking, but come on, an attempt to lighten the mood wouldn't hurt anyone. Anthony chuckled at Ian's words, but Melanie flashed him a serious glare.

"Ian, this isn't something we should joke about. This is serious shit. They could murder us easily"

"So could we" Anthony butted in. "Well, at least Ian can. I'm not a very good shot with anything, and I haven't seen you practice."

"She's really good" Ian said. "At least at throwing knives."

Melanie nodded "Yeah, you're right Anthony. But, we still should at least be wary of them." Both boys made a sound of agreement and nodded their heads. "For now, let's just observe them so we know exactly what we're up against."

Ian entered the dining car after his shower, seeing everyone else was waiting for him. He smiled sheepishly and mouthed a 'Sorry' before taking his seat between Melanie and Emily, right across from Ras, who greeted him with a warm smile. "How did training go today?"

"Pretty good." Ian piled his plate with food, shoving a large bite in his mouth. "Made a new ally" He said once he'd swallowed.

Ras raised an eyebrow, an impressed look crossing his face. "Really? With who?"

"The district eleven boy"

Ras smirked "Oh, you mean the one you seem to fancy?"

Ian choked on his mouthful of food, his eyes wide. Melanie slapped him hard on the back, glaring at Ras. When Ian finally composed himself he took a sip of water and tried to glare at Ras, but he only looked stupid with his flushed face. "I-I do not fancy him!"

"Mhm, that's why his outfit gave you a boner" Ian's eyes widened even more and he spluttered, the color of his face cutting tomatoes from their jobs. Ras only laughed at the look on his face, and Melanie soon joined in. Emily just stared at them, trying not to laugh, her amusement clear on her face.

"I hate all of you" Ian muttered, shoving another forkful of food in his mouth. He fisted his jeans with his other hand to keep from flipping everyone around him off. The group only chuckled and went back to eating, Melanie and Ras smirking at him while Ian just glared back.

Ian cursed under his breath when Melanie said "And the career tributes didn't seem to be too happy with us." He glared at her, earning a confused look from Melanie. He looked up to see Ras was frozen with his fork between his lips, his eyes wide. He quickly swallowed his food before talking.

"The career tributes what?!"

Both teens flinched at Ras' tone which clearly conveyed he wasn't too happy with them either. "They don't like us" Ian squeaked quietly. "They were glaring at us."

Ras shook his head, a look of worry tainting his features. "Look, just be careful, alright? Being on their bad side is not good at all." The two just nodded and went back to their food, their minds filled with worrisome images of the career tributes.

When Ian lay in bed later that night, he hated to admit that Ras and Melanie were right. He couldn't get Anthony out of his mind. He should be worried about what would happen with him and the career tributes, but all he could think about was that damn boy. All he could think about was his damn perfect everything. His mind continued to drift off to dirtier thoughts of the boy and he sighed frustratedly, trying to push them out of his head. He was trying to go to sleep for fuck's sake, not daydream about dirty sex with a boy he barely knew. He rolled over on his side, cursing under his breath and trying to clear his thoughts of the frustratingly perfect boy from district eleven. When his thoughts finally cleared he sighed with relief and allowed himself to drift off to sleep.


End file.
